Staff Member

I was asking Brandon Marshall about his new role as an analyst on Showtime’s “Inside the NFL,’’ about how he would handle the logistics of being a player and getting to the show’s New York studio every Tuesday during the regular season. He said he would fly in a chartered plane on his day off.

I asked him about how he would approach any discussion about the football team that employs him full-time, the Chicago Bears. He mentioned his work with NBC 5 the last two seasons.

“You look at our win-loss record the last two years I’ve been here, so I’ve been put in some tough situations, like doing the show last year after we lost to the Green Bay Packers,’’ he said. “You’ve just got to be transparent and continue to give the audience what they want without crossing those boundaries of hurting the team.’’

Well, this certainly was going swimmingly, I thought. Then I asked him about whether the team was happy with his decision to have a side job.

“You need to be very careful how you write this story and talk to me because this could be the last time you talk to me,’’ he said.

Um, OK …

“End of story,’’ he said.

“I’m just asking …’’

“End of story,’’ he said.

I can see it’s going to be hell writing the authorized Brandon Marshall book now.

Look, I’m sure heaven is rejoicing that the world has another media member. And for those of us with notebooks and microphones, the more the eminently quotable Marshall opens his mouth, the better.

But it’s hard to see how this is good for anyone not named “Brandon Marshall,’’ “Brandon Marshall’s bank account’’ or “Brandon Marshall’s post-football career.’’

The Bears are so demanding of their players that this has to be an issue within the organization. There will be people at Halas Hall who won’t like the idea of the team’s top receiver yapping on his day off rather than resting, studying and thinking of more ways to make Cutler happy.

Remember, this is a franchise that protects information like dark family secrets and views leaks as if they are the work of the devil. And this is a TV show that wants its analysts to be honest and provocative.

What if there’s a controversy involving the Bears on the day “Inside the NFL” runs? Will Marshall share his real thoughts with a national audience? What if those thoughts don’t conform to the Bears’ spin on the matter? How will that go over at Halas Hall and will it have an effect in the locker room?

The Bears didn’t like it when a defiant Martellus Bennett dared the team to fine him for getting into a training camp scuffle with rookie defensive back Kyle Fuller. The Bears not only fined him, they suspended him. They seemed more upset by the quotes than the fight itself.

What if Marshall is not getting the football as much as he wants? Will that come up on the show? What if oft-criticized safety Chris Conte blows a play and costs the Bears a game that has playoff implications? How does Marshall handle it?

If he makes excuses for his teammate on air, how is that good TV for the viewing audience?

All sorts of possible issues here.

Tuesdays are usually a day off for NFL players. Teams can’t dictate how those players spend their down time. Although it’s possible other players use their off days to fly to different cities, I can’t recall Jerry Rice jetting somewhere every Tuesday.

Maybe the Bears have turned a new leaf and will be pushing to be the star of next season’s “Hard Knocks’’ on HBO, but I doubt it.

“I trust Brandon,’’ coach Marc Trestman said after the Bears’ 20-19 preseason victory against the Jaguars. “He asked me about it. I trust him to make a decision that was in the best interest of the team first. I know Brandon. I know he’ll do that. I have complete faith that the team has always come first, football has always come first to him. I believe he’ll work it out to where it won’t distract him from doing his job.’’

Being an NFL wide receiver comes with its own workload and stresses. Studying for a TV show, flying back and forth to New York — it sounds like another layer of work and stress that isn’t good for anybody. Or most anybody.

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George Halas

Staff Member

“I trust Brandon,’’ coach Marc Trestman said after the Bears’ 20-19 preseason victory against the Jaguars. “He asked me about it. I trust him to make a decision that was in the best interest of the team first. I know Brandon. I know he’ll do that. I have complete faith that the team has always come first, football has always come first to him. I believe he’ll work it out to where it won’t distract him from doing his job.’’

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Does not sound as though Treatman wanted him to do this. How is this in the best interest of the team, putting the team first?

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Coordinator

SuperFanDBS Writer

Does not sound as though Treatman wanted him to do this. How is this in the best interest of the team, putting the team first?

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You must be filtering it differently than I am Benji. How do you get that it sounds like he doesn't want him to do it. I'd say that last quote is in effect permission to proceed.

They tape on Tuesdays which is a players day off anyway so he's missing nothing. That's a day they usually rest up and get personal stuff done anyway or the younger players recover from partying the night before. I know. I used to party with them when I lived in GB.

No one on this team devotes more of himself to staying in shape, playing the game as well as it can be played, and to taking an interest in helping to train others to do the same than Brandon Marshall. I wouldn't worry about him taking a day off to do this at all.

That asshole Rick Morrissey tried to make a big deal of it during an interview and Marshall just shut him down and ended the interview. Morrissey is crying about it in his column this morning and yet I thought it was a smart move to put the crap stirring SOB in his place. Morrissey is the most worthless reporter in the Bears beat. He never writes anything of use if it's not a crap stir.

CHICAGO -- Cable network Showtime announced Thursday that Brandon Marshall will serve this season as an analyst on “Inside the NFL,” and Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman is perfectly fine with the receiver balancing the new job with football.

Marshall consulted with Trestman before making the decision to work at Showtime.

“I trust Brandon,” Trestman said after Thursday night's preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. “I trust him to make a decision that was in the best interest of the team first. I know Brandon, and I know he’ll do that. I have complete faith the team will always come first.”

Marshall will serve as an analyst alongside former NFL safety Ed Reed, Boomer Esiason and Phil Simms along with new host Greg Gumbel.

“Football has always come first for him,” Trestman said of Marshall. “I believe he’ll work it out to where it won’t distract him from doing his job.”

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